East Factory Governor

Chapter 788 Zeelandia Sea Battle (two chapters in one)

Zeelandia City is located at the bottom of an inverted "L"-shaped bay. The city is not big, only about one square kilometer.

Since the Dutch had not occupied this place for a long time, and the Netherlands had not yet completely become independent from Spanish colonial rule at that time, so the East India Company's financial resources were not so strong, so the city of Zeelandia at this time was mostly built with cheap mountain soil. The city was built with ashes and local materials, and it was far less solid than when Zheng Chenggong attacked in history (the city of Zeelandia was reinforced and expanded twice later).

It can be said that Zeelandia City was only the solidity of ordinary residential buildings at that time, so according to the standards of modern people, it was completely a tofu project.

The biggest obstacle to attacking the city of Zeelandia was that the Dutch had established more than 80 artillery points around the bay, equipped with all coastal defense cannons-a cannon of the same level as the Hongyi cannon.

In addition, there are seven Galen warships, one Schmidt-class warship, and more than twenty small and medium warships in the port.Among them, the Schmidt-class large battleships are at the same level as the Ming battleships, while the seven Galen ships are almost half the size of the Ming battleships.

However, these eight battleships are also equipped with heavy cannons of the same level as Hongyi Cannon.

But despite this, the Dutch defending the city of Zeelandia are still not sure.

The next day, at dawn, Zheng Zhilong sent a small boat, carrying several Dutchmen to the city of Zeelandia.

These Dutchmen were the crew members of the two ships captured by Zheng Zhilong. Their mission was to convey Zheng Zhilong's ultimatum, demanding that all the Dutch withdraw from Zeelandia within three days, otherwise the Ming army fleet would sail into the bay. It delivers devastating blows.

In other words, Zheng Chenggong obviously has an overwhelming advantage, why give the Dutch time to withdraw at this time?

Of course he was playing a bigger game.

Because Zeelandia City and Chikan City are important strongholds for the Netherlands to maintain trade in the Far East. If these two strongholds are lost, the route from Japan to Nanyang will be divided into two. Not only will the Dutch no longer be able to support a complete Moreover, if their ships want to trade with Daming, Japan, and North Korea in the future, they must be terrified—either they will be sunk at any time, or they will be taxed heavily.

In addition, the Dutch East India Company, which has just been established, has spent huge sums of money on these two cities in the Eastern Domain. If it is so easily thrown away, it may be difficult to explain to the domestic shareholders.

Zheng Chenggong had dealt with the Dutch, Spaniards, and Portuguese a lot earlier, and he knew them all well.

Therefore, he believes that the Dutchman will definitely fight with his back.

And if the Dutch want to fight with their backs, they will definitely bring the fleet to defend Chixian City, as well as the fleet of the pirate Liu Xiang-Liu Xiang's main force is in Hong Kong, which was originally Zheng Zhilong's territory. After Zheng Zhilong quit, the Dutch wanted to make friends. Liu Xiang, took the initiative to give him Hong Kong.

And Yaogang is also in the south of Dongfan, not far from Zeelandia City. If the Dutch invited Liu Xiang, three days would be enough.

This is Zheng Zhilong's big move. He wants to attract the Dutchman and Liu Xiang, solve it at once, save the money and search everywhere at sea—especially pirates like Liu Xiang, who are running around all over the world. It's not easy for him.

Let's say that the chief of the Dutch army stationed in Zeelandia was named Orlan. After receiving Zheng Zhilong's personal letter, he tore it to pieces.

It is absolutely impossible for the Dutch to give up Zeelandia, because giving up Zeelandia also means giving up Chika, which is absolutely impossible.

Oran quickly had two letters written.

One was for Liu Xiang, and the other was for Velasco, the Spanish chief executive in Taiwan in the north.

Since the bay was sealed, the two letters were delivered by land.

In the early morning of the next day, both Liu Xiang and Velasco received letters from Oran.

In the letter to Liu Xiang, Oran told him that the Ming army was aiming to take over the entire territory of the Eastern Fan. If the Ming army won this battle, it would be impossible for any force outside the Ming Kingdom to get involved in the Eastern Fan, the hub of Far East trade.Moreover, once the Netherlands withdrew from Dongfan and the nearby waters, Liu Xiang's ship would never even think about going to Japan, North Korea, or Ming Dynasty.

In addition, there is another important point, that is, the Ming army fleet obtained the Dongfan so easily, and will expand to Luzon, Annan and even Java and other places in the future. Since Liu Xiang is a "certified" pirate of the Ming Dynasty, so He will wait for the Ming army fleet to chase and kill them in all directions.

After Liu Xiang received the letter, she took it for granted.

What Oran said was right, if the Dutchman lost power, he would be ashamed, and he could only be a stray dog ​​floating on the sea from now on.

Although they are pirates, who wants to float on the sea all day without even having a nest?
Not to mention, just like in history, Liu Xiang decided to follow the Dutch!
Now he can mobilize twenty junk ships, seven Galen-class warships, and more than thirty small fast ships of various types. Naturally, this force is not enough to meet Zheng Zhilong head-on.

But don't forget that in addition to the seven Galen ships, one Schmidberg-class warship, and more than twenty small and medium warships in Zeelandia, the Dutch also have eleven Galen ships and two warships in Chikan City. Fort Schmidt class large warships, and more than 30 small and medium warships.

In this way, they add up to three super-large warships, 25 Galen-class warships, [-] junk ships, and nearly a hundred small fast ships. More importantly, there are [-] coastal defense cannons in the city of Zeelandia. Twenty large battleships are strong - the coastal defense guns will not sink, and the muzzle can be turned quickly, unlike a battleship that needs to adjust the hull to turn the muzzle.

In this way, it may not be impossible to compete with the Ming army.

In Liu Xiang's view, in addition to the fifty super-large warships of the Ming army, the remaining thirty or so junk ships and a hundred or so small fast boats are nothing to worry about.

And those fifty super-large battleships, if they don't have the right wind direction and force, that is, they are bulky and fat, as long as they are led into the port, they may not be impossible to deal with.

In short, instead of losing everything, it is better to fight with your back and have a good fight with Zheng Zhilong!
What made Liu Xiang even more excited was that Oran told him that the Spaniards had agreed to join forces with them against the Ming fleet.

If the Spaniards join together, the chances of winning this naval battle will be even greater.

Therefore, Liu Xiang immediately wrote back, expressing his willingness to join hands with the Dutch and fight with Zheng Zhilong.

At the same time, Velasco also received a letter from Oran.

The young administrator was not seduced by Oran's passionate words.

In the letter, Oran analyzed the situation in the Eastern Domain in detail, indicating that Spain and the Netherlands are now on the same boat. If the Netherlands wants to withdraw from the Eastern Domain, then Spain will also withdraw.

Then, if the Ming fleet continues to be so arrogant, the interests of Spain and the Netherlands in the Far East will be greatly damaged in the future.

Even, in the most difficult situation, they may have to abandon their plans to colonize the Far East.

Oran felt that Velasco should be able to see the situation clearly and join forces with him.That's why he directly said in a letter to Liu Xiang that the Spaniards had agreed to unite.

Similarly, he also stated in his letter to Velasco that Liu Xiang had agreed to unite with them to attack Zheng Zhilong together.

Velasco pondered for a long time after receiving the letter.

It has to be said that Alan's analysis hits the nail on the head, especially when the envoy he sent a day ago came back after a meeting with Zheng Zhilong and told him that Zheng Zhilong planned to completely occupy the Eastern Domain.

After a long time, Velasco picked up his pen and wrote back a letter to Oran.

……

On the third day of the port closure, after noon.

A fast boat approached Zheng Zhilong's flagship, and then a dark-skinned sailor quickly jumped on it.

"My lord, the spies found a large number of warships from Liu Xiang's department in the sea ten miles away."

Zheng Zhilong chuckled and asked, "How many?"

"Don't dare to get too close, I can't predict it for the time being. I'm afraid of delaying the battle, so I report first."

Zheng Zhilong nodded, "Continue to investigate."

In fact, Zheng Zhilong can still estimate the troops that Liu Xiang can mobilize.

Zheng Zhilong was very happy that Liu Xiang was able to lead the ship to help the Dutch.

Half an hour later, Zheng Zhilong issued an order from the flagship that ten battleships were responsible for continuing to blockade the port, and the other forty battleships all approached the bay. After entering the range of the Hongyi cannon, they immediately opened fire on the shore.

In addition, ten junk ships and forty clipper ships immediately left to the west, and lay in ambush ten miles to the west.

Soon, forty behemoths drove in, arrived at the predetermined location, and locked on to the target.

At this time, they were still about three miles away from the outermost coastal defense artillery, but the improved Hongyi cannon was able to hit the target more accurately.

The Dutchman was dumbfounded.

Didn't you say to give it three days to think about it?The third day has not passed yet, and the war is about to start?

Boom boom boom!
The Hongyi cannons on the forty battleships launched a salvo first.

On the outer edge of Zeelandia Bay, the Dutch deployed twelve coastal defense guns. Because it was the outer edge of the "L"-shaped bay, they could not form a distribution of horns, and could only be on one side.

Twelve coastal defense guns immediately returned fire.

It's just that compared to the artillery fire of the Ming army, it is really insignificant.

Forty battleships, each ship can fire eight rounds of shells, adding up to 320 rounds.

If the 320 rounds of shells are all aimed at a fort, you can imagine what will happen to that fort with your toes.

Of course, the Ming army was not so wasteful.

What they used was to bombard one battery for every ten battleships.

Soon, the four outermost forts suffered hellish fire.

Boom!Boom!
After only two rounds of bombardment, the four forts were completely misfired.

Not to mention the people on the fort, even the cannons on it were all blown up.

At the same time, the Dutch coastal defense artillery also fired two rounds.

A total of more than 20 shells were fired sparingly, but five shells miraculously hit the warships of the Ming army, three of which hit the sides of three warships, and two hit the decks of two warships respectively.

The huge battleship basically didn't react much when it was shot.

The ones that were hit on the side were nothing more than a crack in the outer armor, and the ones that were hit on the deck were a little unlucky. One sailor was knocked down, and the other caught a small fire, but it was extinguished immediately. up.

The battleships of the Ming army continued to fire, and immediately extinguished four more coastal defense guns.

In the port, the Dutch warships and the rest of the coastal defense guns were in a hurry.

The warships did not dare to rush out to fight the Ming army, and the rest of the coastal defense artillery could not reach the Ming army.

Not long after, all the twelve coastal defense guns on the outermost edge were cleared by the Ming army, and the Ming army only slightly injured one battleship, seriously injured one person, and slightly injured two people.

In the port, the Dutch are on standby.

If the Ming army fleet comes in again, it will enter the attack range of all the remaining coastal defense guns, and it will also directly confront the Dutch fleet head-on!
At this time, ten miles away, Liu Xiang and the Dutch fleet in Chichi Port were converging together, slowly approaching the Ming army.

Their purpose is to be within five miles of the Ming army, so that once the main force of the Ming army enters the bay, they can quickly outflank it.

At the same time, from the north, about ten miles away, the Spanish fleet was also coming.

This fleet consisted of seven galleons and more than twenty small fast boats, almost the entire main force of Velasco - the two galleons arrived at the port only yesterday.

After clearing the forts outside, Zheng Zhilong ordered all forty warships to enter the port for a decisive battle with the enemy.

Soon, the real battle began.

After the forty battleships entered the port, they were quickly bombarded by more than 70 coastal defense guns and more than 30 Dutch warships.

Fortunately, the battleship has rough skin and thick flesh, and the key parts are covered with iron armor, so it is not a big problem to take a few shots.

Even so, many battleships were hit on their masts and caught fire.Once people go to the deck to fight the fire, casualties will inevitably occur.

After being hit by a rain of shells, three battleships of the Ming army were seriously injured and two were slightly injured, with six to 70 casualties.

However, they finally lined up, adjusted the muzzle, and launched a more violent counterattack.

According to the pre-war arrangement, [-] warships dealt with the Dutch warships, and the rest fixed-point cleared the coastal defense guns.

Boom boom boom!
Bang bang bang!
Whoa whoa whoa!
The sound of huge gunfire, explosions, and shells falling into the water suddenly rang out, and the small Zeelandia Bay was filled with smoke, like a thick fog.

Due to the close distance between the two sides, the hit rate is very high.

The seven Galen ships of the Dutch and one super-large warship of the Schmidt class were firstly taken care of by the Ming army.

The Ming army used two battleships to deal with a Galen ship, and six battleships to deal with a Schmidt's density, and launched a fierce bombardment towards them.

The Dutch fought back with the tactics of interspersed with large ships and small boats.

However, when the battle was over they found that their small boats were of little use against such a colossus.

First of all, in addition to the eighteen Hongyi cannons, the battleships of the Ming army were also equipped with eighteen Franco cannons.What are these Fran cannons for?It is specially designed to deal with approaching boats!
In other words, although the Dutch have more than 20 fast and flexible small warships, as long as these small warships approach the Ming army warships, they will face more than 700 Ming army Frankie cannons.

What is the density of more than 700 doors?At least these small clippers will be covered by a web of firepower no matter how close they approach from any angle!

You are already fragile, and the firepower density is not as good as others, so what can you use to threaten them?

At this time, the Dutch knew the reason why Zheng Zhilong was so rampant!

In terms of size, although their super-large Schmidt-class warships can sit on an equal footing with the Ming army, but in terms of firepower, they are not at the same level-the Schmidt-class only has twelve cannons and eight Fron machine close-in defense guns!

After about three rounds of bombardment by both sides, the Ming army sank four of the opponent's Galen ships and seriously injured three ships, while the Schmidborg ship was sieged by six large ships, and it was also riddled with holes, and the ship was full of fire.

But the loss of the Ming army was not light.

The Dutch's more than 70 coastal defense guns are not vegetarian. If every ten guns take care of one battleship, that battleship will be threatened by at least [-] shells in three rounds of bombardment, and according to the probability of [-] shells It is easy to hit five shells.

Coupled with the counterattack of the battleship, this firepower density is not low.

The Ming army seriously injured five battleships, and one of them caught fire, and it seemed impossible to save it.In addition, eleven ships were slightly damaged, but they were not serious.

The most critical thing now is the coastal defense guns in the bay.Some exposed coastal defense guns were easier to engage, and all of them were destroyed by battleships, but some were dug into the mountains on the coast, which were particularly difficult to fight.

These coastal defense guns are the reason why the Dutch and Liu Xiang had a little luck.

At this time, through the signal fireworks transmitted layer by layer, Liu Xiang and the Dutch fleet in Chixian City, a few miles away, have received the news of the Ming army's full-scale attack and are rushing at full speed.

To the north, the Spanish fleet is also at full speed!

The Ming army fleet outside the port suddenly changed its formation.

Eight battleships were sent to the south of the formation, ready to meet Liu Xiang and the Dutch coalition forces.

Two ships to the north, guarded against Spanish warships.

In addition, more than 30 junk ships and small and medium-sized warships slowly docked.

The elite infantry is finally about to land!

The decks were lowered one after another, and groups of Ming soldiers, armed with firecrackers, sabers at their waists and hips, and some with bows and arrows and crossbows on their backs, boarded the coast like wolves.

They landed smoothly because the outer forts were destroyed.

"kill!"

Amidst the roars, the infantry of the Ming army rushed along the coastline towards the Dutch fort.

The Dutch were dumbfounded.

Their total infantry strength in Zeelandia Port was less than 2000—we must know that when Zheng Chenggong attacked Zeelandia Port decades later, although the Dutch increased their troops several times, they were only [-].

Mercenaries are very expensive. It is impossible for the Dutch East India Company to station tens of thousands of people in a port without incident. If they do that, they will need at least hundreds of thousands of troops in the Far East-please, how many soldiers are there in the entire Netherlands?

As soon as the infantry of the Ming army landed, the joint fleet of Liu Xiang and the Dutch arrived.

Looking from a distance, they found that there were only ten large warships outside the port, and more than 50 small and medium-sized warships, and they were immediately relieved.

Well, very good, the main force of the Ming army was indeed trapped in the bay.

The combined fleet of Liu Xiang and the Netherlands, composed of two Schmidberg battleships, eighteen Galen ships, twenty Junk ships, and more than 60 small clippers, is not afraid of Zheng Zhilong's strength at all.

What's more, the Spanish fleet in the north has also arrived, and the lookout has clearly seen their figures.

near!near!
boom!
With the firing of the first shells on the battleships of the Ming army, the battle at the mouth of the Zeelandia Bay also started.

At the same time, a signal firework was immediately set off on a small battleship half a mile away.

Half a mile further away, a small battleship raised the signal after seeing the signal.

Passed layer by layer, like beacon fire.

More than 50 warships of the Ming army ambushing ten miles away immediately rushed at full speed!
(End of this chapter)